Register of members

by Practical Law Corporate

A practice note that summarises the law relating to a company's register of members under the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006). This practice note offers guidance for companies on their obligations in creating, updating, and rectifying the register, and in dealing with requests to inspect or take copies of it. It addresses the content requirements, location of the register at a registered office or a single alternative inspection location (SAIL), and specific rules for single member companies, joint members, and treasury shares. The note also focuses on the process for handling access requests under section 116 of the CA 2006, exploring the critical "proper purpose" test referencing case law and best practice guidance outlined in The Chartered Governance Institute (CGI) guidance "Access to the register of members: proper purpose test". Furthermore, this practice note details relevant provisions introduced by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA), including changes to member information, protecting member information and the removal of the central register option.